Aseagoing vessel or aircraft approaching a warship of the U.S. -- or any nation, for that matter -- must identify itself or face what could be lethal consequences.
Conventional spycraft take time to reach their target and can be immobilized before breaching a ship’s security.
But what about a drone, quickly zipping above and around a ship, gathering its spy data, and then just as quickly vanishing?
Welcome to a new military headache.
What's more, a drone incursion may be more than a spy venture, but an attack.
While U.S. and Japanese officials are somewhat vague about the origins of the video, apparent drone photography was used to post on social media pictures of the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan when it was recently at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, Stars and Stripes reported.